Get off the groomers and discover this luxury resort’s untapped expert terrain. The best part: You’ll have earned that cookie at the end of the day.

Credit must be given to whoever arranged for access to the Stone Creek Chutes off of a trail called Cinch. Very funny, we like your sense of humor. The chutes, of course, by their very nature as chutes, are no cinch. But glide past the rustic wooden plaques identifying the extreme terrain beyond, and it’s a little like the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland.

Colorado's Copper Mountain Resort is poised to win the hearts of a new generation of skiers by giving them what they really want: a kick-ass mountain.

It's a clear, blue day in early March. A few thready clouds stretch out thin on the horizon. We’ve hiked a quarter mile from where the snowcat dropped us and are catching our breath at the top of Tucker Mountain. The patrol “dumpster” is the only structure—an ugly rectangular box marring an otherwise lovely view of the pyramid peaks of the Ten Mile and Mosquito ranges. The steeps of Copper Bowl, Fremont Glades, and the gastronomically named Taco and Nacho splay out below—50-plus-degree pitches packed with cold, chalky snow.